Devon & Cornwall Police News site

A Devon treasurer entrusted with managing a charity’s finances diverted around £200,000 to her own accounts over many years.

Geraldine Coates even transferred £11,083.55 from the charity to pay off her own credit card while falsely claiming the money was to pay a Devon & Cornwall Police invoice for show policing.

Coates, 60, of Kings Road, Honiton, appeared at Exeter Crown Court on Monday 10 August having previously been found guilty at trial of fraud.

She was jailed for three years and nine months with confiscation proceedings to follow.

In court Coates was described as ‘an outwardly respectable woman, entrusted by a local charity to look after their finances’, but ‘who succumbed to temptation and took advantage of her position by defrauding them’.

During the trial, the court heard how Coates was the director of an accounting business in her own named based in Honiton.

Between 1996 and 2018 Coates held a trusted position of treasurer of the Honiton and District Agricultural Association (HDAA).

HDAA is a registered charity that makes donations on an annual basis to a wide range of local agricultural and educational causes.

As treasurer, Coates was responsible for being a signatory on cheque payments, the paying of bills and day to day running of the charity’s accounts.

Coates betrayed the high level of trust placed in her by falsifying transactions and signatures on HDAA cheques to ensure large sums of money made their way to her and were used for her own personal expenditure or benefit.

The fraud was discovered when financial checks were carried out in 2018 following a dispute between Coates and HDAA over a missing payment to a supplier.

On this occasion Coates used her husband’s business account to process a payment to a HDAA supplier for nearly £40,000.

However, an email was hacked and the payment transferred to a fraudster’s account.

At the same time Coates wrote two cheques to cover the sum and made them payable to her husband’s business.

When the supplier made HDAA aware that no payment had been received, the funds paid to Coates’ husband’s business were returned to HDAA.

This left her husband seeking redress for the loss. HDAA stated that Coates had not been authorised to pay her husband money, or ask him to make payments on behalf of the charity.

These events triggered further financial checks at HDAA, resulting in more suspicious transactions being uncovered and Coates handing in her resignation in November 2018.

Irregularities included more cheques with unidentified second signatures and missing invoices. It was also shown that Coates had fabricated bank statements to try and cover up her dishonest actions.

HDAA then notified the Charities Commission and reported the matter to Police resulting in the start of the investigation.

An expert witness report determined that around transactions amounting to between £200,000 and £205,000 appeared to be fraudulent.

The method of the fraud was relatively simple with slight variations. Generally, Coates had been writing HDAA cheques and making them payable to herself.

She put the amounts through the HDAA accounts ledger against either current or previous suppliers.

In many instances Coates deposited amounts into her account and then made payments for goods or services for the same amount.

In 2016 Coates listed Devon & Cornwall Police as a recipient of £11,083.55, money she claimed was for show policing that again was then sent into her own account. HM Revenue & Customs was another false recipient.

Investigation revealed that Coates spent some of the proceeds of her fraud on home improvements, a holiday and covering the costs of running her business.

Detective Constable Alan Findlay from the Fraud Triage and Support Team, said: “Geraldine Coates over the course of around nine years between 2009 and 2018 betrayed a position of trust she held at a highly thought-of local charity.

“Due to the length of time Coates had been in the role and the good relationship she had with committee members, she had full trust to manage the charity’s finances and accounts in its best interests.

“HDAA promotes agricultural and educational causes and Coates defrauded the charity out of vital funds that could have been used to benefit others, spending the money on her own needs and wants.

“Coates took active steps to try and cover her offending and at no point did she have the courage to admit what she did – even taking the matter to trial despite the strong financial evidence against her.

“I’d like to thank the jury for their attention to detail when considering the case, and welcome the sentence given to Coates. I would also like to thank the HDAA for their co-operation at what was undoubtedly a difficult time for those at the charity whose trust had been betrayed by someone they knew well.”

If you or a charity, business or organisation has been the victim of fraud please visit www.reportfraud.police.uk